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FERC has denied a request by Kern River Gas Transmission to reconsider an order that curbs the amount of collateral that may be collected from a noncreditworthy shipper to continue receiving service. Noncreditworthy shippers have credit ratings that are below investment grade.

The market will ultimately cap the amount of natural gas that the United States exports, not policymakers, said an executive with CIBC World Markets at the Energy Information Administration’s Energy Conference Tuesday in Washington, DC. Hypothetically, “if we were to see Henry Hub prices in the $5.00-7.00/Mcf range, it would make incremental [liquefied natural gas export] projects difficult,” said CIBC World’s head of commodity strategy Katherine Spector. CIBC is a unit of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. “There is a point that this [exports] will not make economic sense…I don’t know what the magic number is.” When natural gas in Asia is priced at $16.00, and gas at Henry Hub is $2.00-3.00, “it’s a no brainer.”

A number of states that have laws requiring utilities to use renewable fuels to produce a specific amount of electricity are considering scaling back their mandates — or even repealing them altogether — given the prolific supply of natural gas that has caused prices to plunge.

During the first quarter, Quicksilver Resources Inc. lost more money than Wall Street was expecting as the company continued to “hammer on the cost side” of its business, deferring elective spending in the energy patch and cutting back on staff.

Energy industry efforts to reduce the amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) through recycling and other means have to be stepped up if unconventional resources are to grow as projected, according to Ceres, which runs an influential institutional investor coalition.

Although overall month-over-month totals were down, production rates set all-time high marks for oil and natural gas in February in North Dakota, state officials reported Tuesday.

With just minuscule movement downward in the amount of associated natural gas being flared, North Dakota’s top oil and gas official in his latest monthly report said that the state and industry are stuck at about a 28.5-29% level of flared associated gas.

Canadian Pan Ocean Ltd., funded by Asian investors, has put together an operating company in the liquids-rich Duvernay Shale in southwestern Alberta, executing a binding term sheet for a farm-out agreement with Canadian producer Mako Hydrocarbons Ltd. for the producer’s 50% working interest in its Alberta Joint Venture (AJV).

The Marcellus Shale’s natural gas volumes are continuing to flow higher, but significant revisions in growth expectations by pipeline giant Williams Partners Ltd. (WPZ) has led one analyst to question whether the “excellent adventure” to establish a major natural gas hub is turning into a “bogus journey.”